David Kocieniewski

Why did you decide to look into G.E.?

My editors and I decided late last year that I should look into the general issue of corporate taxes. We became interested in it after seeing a bunch of statistics : IRS numbers indicating that corporations' share of federal revenues had dropped to single digits (down from 30 percent a few decades ago) ; and SEC figures indicating that US corporations have had to set aside a staggering amount of money for uncertain tax positions (accounting manuevers that their lawyers say are unlikely to withstand an audit if discovered by the IRS).

With so much concern over the budget deficit and spending - and corporate profits at record highs - it seemed as though people might want to take a closer look at what corporations actually pay.

When a source gave me a tip about Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel's district getting millions in donations from from G.E. at the same time his committee was being lobbied by the company for a tax break, I began looking into it. And when G.E.'s CEO Jeff Immelt was named to the White House Commission on Jobs and Competetiveness, it was clear that G.E. would provide the kind of vivid example that makes a complex story like the corporate tax code accessible to the general public.

What surprised you as you did your research?

That G.E. has spent more than $200 million on lobbying during the past decade; and that a single tax code change made in 2004 to benefit G.E. specifically (deferral of income on offshore leasing income) reduced the company's US federal income tax bill by more than $1.2 billion in the following three years.

What has the response been since you published it?

The response has been overwhelming. More than 1,000 emails; widespread follow-up by other media outlets around the world (Didn't think it was possible for Jon Stewart and Bill O'Reilly to be on the same side of ANY issue); Twitter and Facebook campaigns to pressure G.E. into paying more taxes and asking the company CEO to step down from the Presidential commision.

Is there something you wish you had room to include in the piece but could not?

I would have liked to show more detail about how G.E. accrued various tax credits and given a breakdown of the $3.2 billion in tax benefits the company claimed. But G.E. has been reluctant to give details. I'm still asking for more information in hopes of writing a follow-up.

What kind of effect do you think this piece could have on corporate taxes in the future?

It's helped put a spotlight on how lobbying and tax preferences have shaped the tax code in ways that favor some companies rather than others. The story also stimulated a discussion about how much corproations should contribute to federal revenues at a time when the debate over budget deficits - and how to address them - is profoundly reshaping how our government works. What democracy ultimately decides to do is anyone's guess.

I'll be writing lots more about the corporate tax system in the months to come.....

David Kocieniewski wins the August Sidney Award for exposing Goldman Sachs’ practice of shuffling aluminum from one Detroit-area warehouse to another in order to delay shipping and extract more rent from the metal’s owners. These tactics have added an estimated $5 billion to the cost of aluminum since 2010, the equivalent of two cents for every can of soda.

Michael Grabell wins the July Sidney Award for showing how employers and the temporary labor industry turned the U.S. into a “permatemp” nation where armies of expendable temporary workers have become a permanent part of the supply chain.

Juan Carlos Frey and PBS Need to Know team (producer Brian Epstein, correspondent John Larson and editor Judith Starr Wolff) win the June Sidney Award for exposing the rising death rate among undocumented migrants attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border.

Julfikar Ali Manik, Steven Greenhouse, and Jim Yardley of the New York Times won the May Sidney Award for their extensive coverage of the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh. The seven-story factory complex crumbled on April 24, burying over 1100 people. Most of the victims were garment workers who died sewing clothes for Western companies like Walmart and Benetton.

Joe and Harry Gantz won the April Sidney Award for American Winter, a documentary that follows eight Portland, Oregon-area families struggling to survive the winter of 2011/2012 in the grip of the Great Recession.

Bob Ortega won the February Sidney Award for sounding the alarm about a faulty test for HPV, the virus that causes most cervical cancer. Each year, about 12,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and about 4,000 die of the disease.

Jina Moore, regular contributor to the Christian Science Monitor, won the November Sidney Award for Below The Line: Poverty In America, a portrait of poverty as it is measured by official statistics and lived by real people.

Sasha Chavkin, Anna Maria Barry-Jester and Ronnie Greene of the Center for Public Integrity won the October Sidney Award for “Mystery in the Fields,” an international investigation into a mystery kidney disease killing young farm workers in India, Sri Lanka, and Central America.